I’d promised to write something, anything!, for Artifice Books, but its editor Tadd was not too sure about my very first pitch, a catalogue of movie clips in which women get punched in the face.
I got a really nice, personalized press email from “Gnome”—his real name is Konstantinos Dimopoulos, I’ve just learned!—and he is campaigning hard for the Bundle-in-a-Box Adventure Games bundle. As with many other bundles, this collection is pay-what-you-like; not only are seven games included, a copy of the well-received Ben There, Dan That! is in the mix. Why, yes, the games are DRM-free, since you were wondering. In the meantime, the Bundle-in-a-Box heralds the launch of The Sea Will Claim Everything. All this can be yours for just hundreds of pennies! PC adventure gamers, you can’t beat that!
Foldskool Heroes (via it8bit) is a downloadable template that you can turn into custom papercraft of your own. I really like this! It sort of reminds me of those blank vinyl Soopa Coin-Up Bros figurines.
A Barcade-style barcade is coming to Chicago, and everyone is freaking out:
Expect a focus on Midwestern and local beer with half of the beer on tap always being from the Midwest. The plan is to rotate their selection often, so there will always be new brews to try. There will also be a large whiskey list, with a selection of standard and upscale varieties. A full bar will be available as well and there may be more specialty cocktails down the line.
Writer Martin Amis once penned a video-game near-classic, Invasion of the Space Invaders. The Millions has a review of the book (via Slate).
Since the book is impossible to buy used, some Good Samaritan is publishing Amis’s book’s very best lines as a Twitter feed.
What an all-star cast! I am so damn thrilled I don’t know what to do with myself.
And one more thing: curator Max Bare somehow convinced Chicago’s own Jake Elliott to submit an arcade game to the exhibit! It is an all-new game, and it will be playable at the show.
OhNo!Doom
Super Button Mashers Mega Opening
February 11, 6:00 PM-10:00 PM
1800 N. Milwaukee
Chicago IL 60647
Tuesday and Thursday 4:00 PM-10:00 PM
Saturday 12:00 PM-7:00 PM
Strap in! I’m not sure how much I can—or want!—to tell you about this gallery show, but know this: it opens on February 11, and there will be art. Details forthcoming.
I think my favorite part about the gAtari 2600—besides, you know, the body of the guitar is an actual 2600—is how the “frets” are just these ginormous footpedals, all fused onto the “fingerboard” in a row.
No, I realize the pedals are actually being used to play loops (Right?? And then the “whammying”), but they look hilarious. This machine does not sound hilarious, however. Rather, it sounds awesome.
Jeesh, how had I ever missed this? It’s called “Colossal Katamari,” and I guess Joystiq reported on it in 2006 (the year in which I continue to live, apparently). And! It’s MS Paint. MS Paint, you guys.
I feel like you can get a much better feel for it at the link, so go look. And use the little zoom buttons!
What might happen if all your favorite old television shows—circa 1978, say—were gussied up as Intellivision games? Motion graphics collective PUNGA has the answer!
Here’s their cheery promo ‘spot’ for a block of retro television programming, slated to air on FOX in Italy. D’awww! B.A. Baracus never looked so twee!
Do you know how I found out about GameTunnel’s relaunch? THROUGH PROJECT WONDERFUL. I was like, "Oh, look, I can run a new ad from… GameTunnel? Whoa." I should add that this redesign is aytch oh tee tee, HOT, all electric apple and slippery menus.
Also worth noting: indie developers can submit their games for review. Like, there’s an actual spot to do that, right in the navigation header. I love that.
Eh? Kotaku.com has been covering the everloving Jehoshaphat out of ‘Retro Game Master’ (née Game Center CX) all summer, and I was none the wiser! Corrected.
"Technoculture critic and former Wired contributor Erik Davis is concerned about the proliferation of reviews, too. ‘Our culture is afflicted with knowingness,’ he says. ‘We exalt in being able to know as much as possible. And that’s great on many levels. But we’re forgetting the pleasures of not knowing. I’m no Luddite, but we’ve started replacing actual experience with someone else’s already digested knowledge.’"
Nicole Gustafsson’s Shy Guys, completed just in time for the SUPER iam8bit exhibit, which opens August 11 in Los Angeles. (It’s nice to see somebody exploring the softer side of “shy.”)
I am pretty sure I have mentioned this every summer for the last several summers, but my birthday is actually that very—oh, never mind. Twenty-three was the last birthday I celebrated, anyway. I know, I know.
Illustrator Martin Hsu’s latest solo show, CRAKENS, opened at Chicago’s Rotofugi Gallery late last week. The LA-based artist was in attendance, and he is every bit as charming, friendly, and animated as his paintings are.
At least two of the cutest pieces in the exhibit are video games -themed, and of course I am totally in love with both of them.
Here’s one of Hsu’s recurring characters, Snappy Pig, playing his 360. He appears to be losing to the little fox-rodent on the left:
And here’s another recurring character, Sea Monkee, playing his brand new 3DS in a tree.
Giclee prints of each, signed and numbered by the artist, are available in limited runs of 30 (US$120 framed, $70 unframed). The prints are very nearly the same size as the originals, which is nice.
And at the time of this writing, the originals themselves are unsold—Snappy Pig Xbox can be yours for a piddling $325, while Sea Monkee 3DS is just $350.
CRAKENS runs through June 26, so if you are in the Chicagoland area, stop by Rotofugi Gallery. As always, there is no admission fee.
You can read more about the show’s opening reception at Hsu’s blog.
Rotofugi Gallery
2780 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
(773) 868-3308
The weather is strange: a real dog day, overcast and grey and still; perhaps a steady hail of cogs and caps and casings; here and there, a garble of boards and wiring, spat out of the sky, maybe.
Overhead: some sort of roaring gyrodyne or helibus, chopping through the smog sideways; a thin soupy ring of cloud where the sun was. In the distance, a bank of steeples stretch heavenward, bellowing tines of smoke. A fibrillation underfoot; a structural undertow; a gnashing of architectural teeth. Just beyond the next concrete cliff, a window, a promise, a torii framed in steel and sealed with plate glass.
Only a terrible fairy tale. So rest easy tonight, young Charlie, little Jamie, tiny Tilda—the apocalypse is nigh, but it is not yet here. For now, there are only the signs: a pigeon, a dove, an office chair.
